Hate Crime

(asked on 9th March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 5 December 2018 (HL Deb, col 1019), whether the definition of a hate crime used by the police and Crown Prosecution Service has been (1) debated, and (2) approved, by Parliament; and if so, when.


Answered by
Baroness Williams of Trafford Portrait
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
This question was answered on 23rd March 2021

The police and Crown Prosecution Service define and record hate crime as “any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person's race or perceived race; religion or perceived religion; sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation; disability or perceived disability and any crime motivated by hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.”

This definition has been produced for operational purposes. Any arrest, charge or prosecution taken forward by the police or Crown Prosecution Service must relate to a criminal offence laid out in legislation that has been approved by Parliament.

Information on how many UK citizens have a hate crime registered on their police record but have not been (1) charged with, or (2) found guilty of, such an offence is not held centrally.

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